


Richard & Vivien (vol. 3): Two Pairs at New Year's Eve

by Lady_Angel_Fanwriter



Series: Richard and Vivien Eng [3]
Category: British Actor RPF, Richard Armitage - Fandom
Genre: Explicit Sexual Content, F/M, Friendship, Love, New Year's Eve, Romance, Romanticism, winter vacation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-23
Updated: 2017-03-01
Packaged: 2018-09-26 12:49:59
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 14,707
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9897488
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lady_Angel_Fanwriter/pseuds/Lady_Angel_Fanwriter
Summary: Vivien and Richard are spending their winter vacation in Chamonix; Richard's best friend, Lee Pace, is with them. Vivien invited also her dear friend Eva, big fan of Lee. Will the encounter between the beautiful collaborator of the Metropolitan Museum and the charming American actor generate a spark...? Meanwhile, Richard has a big surprise in store for Vivien...Third part of the series "Richard and Vivien"Please note that English is not my first language, forgive therefore my mistakes; I'd be grateful to any English speaking people who correct them.





	1. Part One

 

“Well, are you ready?”  
Vivien watched her young friend Eva, who was trying to finish applying her lipstick, but continued to smear it because her hands were shaking out of anxiety.  
“If I’d be able to put on this lipstick, I would!”, Eva answered, her voice shrill because of her nervousness.  
“Stop for a moment”, Vivien suggested her, smiling sympathetically: she remembered still perfectly her own nervousness, the afternoon she was invited for tea by Richard and she almost choked eating the ginger cookies she had brought, so much her stomach was knotted up. Over one year and a half had passed since, yet it seemed to her still impossible that an exceptional actor, famous and handsome like Richard Armitage, had fallen in love exactly with her…  
It was New Year’s Eve 2014; they were in Chamonix, where Richard and Vivien were spending their winter vacations on the snow, after the actor’s _tour de force_ for the promotion of the last film of _The Hobbit_ trilogy. They had chosen this location because it had been suggested to them by Lee Pace, Richard’s dear friend who, like him, loved to ski and came here for years now. Sure enough, he was in this same hotel, too, and all the three of them went together on the ski slopes.  
Eva took her older friend’s advice and put down the lipstick on the vanity table.  
“I’m so nervous, my stomach is one big knot!”, she cried, sighing, “I feel like 15, not 25…”  
“Hey, I’m not surprised at all”, Vivien smiled, “I remember as I was when I went for a tea to Richard’s, the first time: I skipped lunch!”  
“Well, no, before leaving I had a sandwich at the airport”, Eva chuckled, already a little appeased learning hers what not an isolated case, “but tonight I think I won’t be able to have one single bite…”, she concluded, pulling aside a blond curl from her brow.  
“We’ll see… or maybe you’ll so enthusiastic, you’ll be hungry like a wolf!”  
“Ha, that might well be… I’m a heartily eater, usually”, Eva sighed again, “I wish Lee could like me the way Richard liked you… but I don’t have much hope.”  
Eva was crazy about Lee Pace as Vivien had been – and actually still was – about Richard Armitage; but she wasn’t some floozy fangirl pulling out her hair at the sight of her favourite actor, on the contrary, she was a respectful young woman with good sense. It was for this reason that, in spite of the remarkable age gap – almost twenty years – they had become good friends, when they met, over one year ago, attending the same self-defence classes; and it was for the same reason that Vivien proposed her to join her in Chamonix for New Year’s Eve, in order to introduce her to Lee. She had no intention to act like a procuress, but Lee told Richard he envied him because he had found his other half; at 34, the American actor had begun to wish seriously a person with whom he could share his life, but, in spite of the many opportunities, he hadn’t found this person yet. Therefore, Vivien came up with the idea to introduce them to each other, and maybe something could start, as it had been for her and Richard: after all, one can never know…  
Because of her professional commitments, Eva had been able to arrive only this afternoon; Vivien had waited for her in the hotel, exhorting her fiancé to go out on the ski slopes with Lee, and consequently the introduction of the two would occur tonight, when all of them would go to the party the hotel had organised. Now they were less than half an hour away from the meeting with their two escorts, at the hotel bar. Vivien had preferred to go and change in Eva’s room, to give her psychological support; of which, it was apparent she really was in need.  
“Look, dressed up like this, you’ll _kill_ him for sure”, she assured her friend, beholding her: in her red evening dress, close fitting and elegantly sexy, she was sensational and would turn many men’s heads, tonight, she was sure.  
“I don’t know… maybe this gown is too showy…”  
“No, for New Year’s Eve it’s _perfect_ ”, Vivien insisted, “Now finish your makeup…”

***

“But do you know her well, this Eva?”, Lee asked Richard while, sitting on the bar stools, they were waiting for their ladies.  
“Enough to tell you that, besides very pretty, she’s a classy, intelligent, funny woman, who allows no one to walk over her”, was the British actor’s answer, meaning every single word he was saying.  
“Looks promising”, Lee mused with apparent nonchalance, but actually, he felt nervous. He didn’t like arranged dates and usually he refused them, but he couldn’t say no to Richard and Vivien, especially after hearing his best friend’s fiancée talking about Eva in glowing terms. For some while now he had begun to wish more and more someone by his side, especially after seeing Richard so happy and serene since Vivien was with him; but this didn’t mean he was willing to dive in headfirst in any random relationship. He was aware the probabilities that this Eva was the right woman were very low, but obviously, until he didn’t meet her, he couldn’t know it; he trusted Richard and his opinion and the premises were good, but then, if they actually got some chemistry was up in the air.  
“I hope her expectations are not too high”, the American actor added, as a corollary to his thoughts, “Maybe in person I’ll disappoint her…”  
“This is the risk people like us always take”, Richard pointed out, quietly, “That’s why I always tried not to get too close to my fans.”  
“And how’s it you made an exception with Vivien?”, Lee enquired, perplexity transpiring clearly from his green eyes.  
The corners of Richard’s lips lifted in his characteristic, little smile.  
“My heart felt immediately she was _special_ ”, he answered simply. His friend’s face became even more perplexed:  
“I never thought you were the kind of man acting on impulse… I always thought you were the cautious type, the one who uses his brains.”  
“That’s what I normally am”, the other admitted, “but sometimes you have to be able to reason with your heart and not with your brains; and anyway I didn’t act on impulse… We already nodded _hello_ to each other – you know, those nods neighbours exchange out of simple politeness – but each time I felt the wish to talk to her… Not last, I wondered if she had recognised me, let’s say the lack of indications in this sense intrigued me. Therefore I jumped on the opportunity when I saw her tending her roses in her garden and I went to her; I’d have never done it, if I wasn’t wondering for days on the odd sensation I was feeling.”  
“And then you learned she was a fan of yours”, Lee grinned, knowing the rest of the tale.  
“A _big_ fan”, Richard confirmed, reiterating what she had told him, “but she treated me always with great ease, like a man and not a celebrity… even if, later, she confided me she was about to faint, when I addressed her the first time”, he concluded, chuckling and shaking his head, certain that it was an exaggeration of Vivien.  
Lee, too, chuckled.  
“Vivien adores you”, he sighed then, “You’re a lucky man…”  
“I know”, the Englishman nodded, emphatically, then his gaze moved behind his friend’s back, “Oh, here come our ladies…”  
Lee turned so abruptly, his stool staggered and he risked tumbling down on the floor. He crouched in order to maintain his balance, and so he lifted slowly his eyes along a female leg peeking out of the tear of a sober, but intriguing red dress, continuing on the curves of a slender, athletic body, a not excessive V neckline, an elegant swan-neck, until it reached a pretty face framed in long blond curls, where two magnificent bright-blue eyes shone, highlighted by a skilful makeup.

  
_She looks like an angel_ , he thought, dazzled.

***

Going down to the ground floor with Vivien, Eva had felt her stomach clench so hard, she almost felt sick; the thrill for the imminent encounter with her favourite actor was almost unbearable. The lift doors opened up, but she stood there, frozen, her feet like nailed on the floor; almost as if realising it, Vivien took her by her elbow and pulled lightly. This was enough to make Eva’s legs automatically move, and so the two women exited the car into the hall and headed for the bar, their high heels silenced by the soft carpet covering the floor from wall to wall.  
“There they are”, Vivien said in a low voice, pointing, already smiling in seeing again her fiancé. She had left him in their room just a little more than an hour before, but for her it was always like seeing the sun.  
Eva glanced at Lee, who was showing her his back whilst talking to Richard, and felt her heartbeat increase to thousand miles per hour; instinctively she lifted one hand to make sure her rebellious curls were fine, but stopped mid-gesture because Lee turned hastily and swayed on his stool, so much she thought for a moment he would fall headlong on the floor. Then the actor lifted his gaze, travelling it along all her shape, from toe to head, until he stopped it in her eyes.  
The world disappeared.  
Vivien saw Lee’s facial expression go dreamy and glanced quickly at Eva, whose face expressed the same enchantment; she had expected this from her – surely it was the same face she made the first time her eyes met Richard’s, the day he addressed her while she was trimming her roses – but she hadn’t expected it from Lee.  
Richard had, he too, noticed Eva’s spellbound face; he looked askance to his friend and saw it mirrored in his face.  
_May it be love at first sight?_ , he wondered. Personally, he had thought he was immune to it because he never felt it… until he had seen Vivien, for whom he had fallen even before speaking to her. Of course, from the sudden crush to the real love, he needed some time, but his heart had recognised her much quicker than his brain.  
Then, Lee’s expression came back to the present time; the actor straightened himself in all his considerable height – which surpassed even Richard’s – and fixed his jacket, and finally he smiled at the gorgeous blonde in front of him.  
Eva felt her knees wobbling, but she fought to maintain control: okay, he was her favourite actor and her impossible love, but she had a dignity, for heaven’s sake, she was an intelligent and witty woman, used to reason with her neurons and not her hormones…! Proof were her degree with honours and a prestigious job, which she obtained after winning a ferocious competition, especially from male adversaries. She was not a teenager in the grip of an emotional storm… but sure enough, Lee’s smile was absolutely sensational…

  
“Vivien, Eva, you’re simply charming”, Richard said, gallant as usual; his baritone voice brought the blonde woman back to the present moment, “Eva, may I introduce you my good friend Lee Pace? Lee, this is Eva Garner.”  
“Nice to meet you”, Eva managed to say without her voice trembling, stretching out her hand.  
“ _Enchanté_ ”, the American actor said, taking it and bringing it to his lips to brush its back. This chivalrous gesture caught Eva unprepared and took her breath away; not to speak about his voice, of a similar tone as Richard’s, which she had heard countless times through the speakers in theatres or on television, but which was far more intriguing live.  
The barman, a dark-skinned man wearing impeccably a black dinner suit with a bowtie, came to them and asked in French:  
“May I bring you and your friends an aperitif, _Monsieur_ Armitage?”  
“Yeah, I think so”, the actor answered in the same language, which he knew enough well, and then he addressed the others, “What do you like to drink?”  
“For me, a Kir”, Vivian said, having tried it two nights earlier; it was a cocktail based on white wine with a tinge of syrup of blackcurrant previously macerated in sugar and alcohol, “Eva, if you want to try it, it’s delicious…”  
“Okay”, her friend answered a little absent-minded; in that moment they could offer her a drink based on motor oil and she would accept it anyway.  
“I take it, too”, Lee hurried to say, “I’m always curious to try new things, and you?”, he asked Eva.  
“Oh, me too”, she answered; this time she managed to beam back at him and the actor thought she had a splendid smile.  
“Four Kirs”, Richard told the barman, who nodded indicating he had understood.  
“Please take a seat at a table”, he invited them, pointing to the wicker armchairs, stuffed with creamy coloured cushions, located near the bar counter.  
The British actor turned and extended his hand toward Vivien, who accepted it.  
“Let’s sit down”, he said to the other two. Lee gestured politely to Eva to go before him and she started, swaying in a discreetly sexy way on the vertiginous heels of her silvery sandals. For a short moment, Lee stared in appreciation at the curves of her spectacular _B-side_ , and then he remembered he was a gentleman and looked away before following her.  
They sat at a table and Richard asked Eva:  
“So, how was your journey?”  
“Quiet, except for a strong side wind making the landing in Geneva a bit lively, so to say”, Eva told them, “but once at JFK with a snow storm, that was much worse…”  
“Which one, the one on last January?”, Lee asked.  
“Yep, exactly that one.”  
“Good heavens, I landed on JFK, too, that day, coming from Los Angeles! We could have met there…”  
“It’s a small world”, Eva commented, surprised by that coincidence.  
“True. That day I was scared half to death.”  
“Tell me about it!”  
Vivien and Richard exchanged smiling glances: it seemed those two liked each other. Maybe there was hope…?  
Richard decided to intervene with a meaningful question:  
“Eva, how’s your job doing?”  
“I completed the new set-up just yesterday”, the woman answered, “that’s why I wasn’t able to arrive earlier”, noticing Lee’s interrogative glance, she explained, “I work for the Metropolitan Museum, but for 14 months the British Museum _borrowed_ me. I’m just done to cure the new set-up of Room 42, dedicated to medieval art.”  
“Looks challenging”, Lee commented, impressed. She nodded:  
“Enough, yeah, especially if you have to fight against colleagues with blinders on their eyes and an outdated mind-set. If was a hard battle, convincing the management to listen to me and change the exhibit style to make it less didactic and more _vivacious_ , more enjoyable for an interested, but general, so-to-speak _non-specialised_ , audience. Our aim is not boring the visitor, on the contrary, to stimulate, intrigue, spur to want to know more”, she shook her head, “but getting that into the mind of some knuckleheads in the establishment was a long haul!”, she concluded emphatically.  
“Did you use a morning star?”, Viviana asked with a laugh.  
“Look, if I could, I would!”, the blonde replied, grinning; the men, too, laughed. Lee was more and more impressed by Eva: besides being a very beautiful and cultured woman, she was intelligent, witty and feisty as Richard had described her.  
At that moment, a waitress arrived, serving them the aperitifs along with olives and tiny cheese puff pastries.  
Lee was quick in taking a glass and handing it gallantly to Eva; she accepted it with a soft smile, which however cracked a little when her fingers brushed his. The American actor’s alluring green eyes stared into hers for a long moment, enough to make her forget to breathe. Obviously, she had always thought he was gorgeous, but in person, he was _intoxicating_. Thank goodness, she was sitting, she thought while taking the glass to her lips, forcing her hand not to tremble; or else she would surely collapse.  
After having handed a glass to Vivien, Richard lifted his own:  
“I suggest a toast: to the two most entrancing women this side and the other of the Atlantic”, he said, looking at them with his little, but meaningful smile so typical of his and for which his fans were crazy about – including Vivien.  
“To Vivien and Eva”, Lee promptly joined his friend’s toast.  
Vivien raised her glass in response:  
“And we make a toast to the two most charming men in the world… now aren’t they, Eva?”  
“Oh yes, they are indeed”, the younger woman smiled, joining her.  
“How exaggerated…”, Lee began to protest, but Eva stopped him with a fake reproach glare:  
“Hey, we didn’t protest at _your_ exaggeration!”  
They all laughed, then touched each other’s glasses and drank.  
“You were right, Vivien, it’s delicious”, Eva commented.  
“I agree”, Lee stated, nodding, then he addressed the young blonde, “You said you work for the Metropolitan, but the British _borrowed_ you… what do you mean?”  
“An exchange”, Eva explained, “both of staff and ideas and projects. I curated the new set-up of the medieval art department of the Met, therefore the British, who wanted to do the same thing, hired me. Meanwhile, because in London they had just renewed the Ancient Greece department, they sent someone to New York to do the same.”  
“It’s been a long time since I visited the Met”, Lee mused, using he too, the popular nickname of the museum, “I have to fix it, but only after you’re back there, so maybe you can be my personal guide”, he concluded, looking at her questioningly.  
Eva could hardly believe what she just heard: was he asking to see her? It didn’t seem likely to her… after all, they had just met. Probably he said it just out of politeness.  
“Why not?”, she answered, trying to sound neutral; pulling herself together, she took a pastry and ate it, “Tastes good!”  
“Yep, you’re right”, Richard confirmed, having already tried them while following the exchange between the two, “How much longer will you stay in England, then? If you’re done with your job, I suppose you’ll go back to the Big Apple…”  
“My hiring ends officially after the opening, that is next Saturday; but actually they asked me to stay a couple of weeks longer to control that all goes off smoothly and there are no changes to make, before I go back to the fold.”  
“We’ll miss you”, Vivien stated honestly: she really loved this exuberant young woman.  
“There are not too many hours flight, from London to New York”, Richard smiled at Vivien, “We can easily go to visit Eva.”  
“And I can come round to London, from time to time”, the blonde woman assured them.  
At that moment, the doors of the dining room opened and the maître – a middle-aged man, tall and bald, slightly overweight, but anyway very elegant in his impeccable dark evening suit – announced in a loud voice that they could begin entering.  
Since the seats were assigned, there was no crowding, nor particular hurry to enter, as dinner would be served in no less than half an hour. The four friends finished calmly their aperitif, then they got up; Richard offered his arm to Vivien and bent across her:  
“You’re absolutely gorgeous in this gown…”

  
It was one of the three he bought her when they decided to come out on their relationship, a year and a half ago; until now Vivien had had no occasion to sport it.  
“Thank you”, she answered, smiling at him with starry eyes, pleased and elated as usual by his compliments, “You, too, look outstanding”, she added, lowering quickly her gaze to glance at his formal outfit, a chestnut-brown three-piece with matching tie. Any fashion model would disappear, compared to him: he was simply striking, at least in her enamoured eyes.

  
Whilst the couple headed toward the dining room, Lee quickly offered his arm to Eva, who accepted it feeling again very thrilled. In spite of her vertiginously high heels, she barely arrived to the level of the actor’s shoulders, being he over 1,90 m and taller even than Richard.  
“I’m a dwarf, compared to you!”, she laughed, with great humour. Lee looked at her, his eyes travelling along all her shape with calculated slowness:  
“If you allow me, you’re much prettier than any Dwarf I ever met!”  
“Hey, I heard you, you Elven beanpole!”, Richard returned in a fake bickering tone, half turning.  
“That Dwarf has good ears!”, Lee grumbled with Thranduil’s scowl, and Eva – who was crazy about his Tolkienian character – barely managed to control a hilarity attack, merely giggling instead of laughing out loud slapping her knees. Also the American actor laughed, while they followed their friend’s footsteps, who were laughing hard, too.  
“Richard and me, we tease each other often, about our roles in _The Hobbit_ ”, he told her, his green eyes sparkling with merriment, “I hope one day we’ll be able to work together again, we really enjoyed ourselves like crazy.”  
“You’re completely right”, Richard confirmed, halting in front of the board showing the seats, “We’ve got the _Orchid_ table”, he said while skimming it.  
“Here it is”, Vivien pointed it out, identifying it. Basing on the room map, they found it easily, also because each table was named after a flower and decorated consequently.  
They were round eight-seater tables; their tablemates were two French couples, who introduced themselves simply as Jeanne with her husband Daniel, and Albert with his daughter Mireille. They would learn during the evening that the first was a singer, quite famous in France, and the other was a member of the French parliament. The one who was most thrilled by the presence of the two actors was, as predictable, the young Mireille, who the day after would turn eighteen and as a gift had asked her father this vacation on the snow. Both Richard and Lee wished her a happy birthday and graciously agreed to be photographed with her by her father.  
“Aren’t you jealous?”, Eva asked Vivien under her breath.  
“No, why?”, she answered, “Anyway I know Richard is only mine”, she added smiling. At the beginning, it had been hard for her to confront the reality of Richard’s female fandom, among which there were girls – and even grown-up women – who were really wild; some of them, especially on Twitter, sometimes addressed him in an overfamiliar way, which initially bothered her, but when she realised she was the only one Richard cared for, she had felt reassured. It wasn’t always easy, especially when she ran into some venomous comment addressed to her – even if the Armitage Army had welcomed her enough graciously, there were always some exceptions – but in the present case, the young fan was so discreet and good mannered, she couldn’t be possibly jealous.  
Eva held back a sigh: she wasn’t very sure she would be able to do the same; but at any rate the possibility was very remote, in fact, even if Lee had shown to appreciate her looks and her company, what real possibilities had she, to win the handsome American actor’s heart?  
Waiting for the first course, they talked pleasantly, above all about their present and past feats on the ski slopes. Lee had them all laughing heartedly talking about the time, during the past winter, skiing here in Chamonix, he lost control and, after hitting a small pine, he ended sprawled out on fresh snow. Richard laughed:  
“Yeah, I remember your brother captured the moment and then you posted the picture on Twitter!”

  
Vivien and Eva laughed, too, nodding to confirm both had seen that funny image.  
Then the appetizer arrived, a number of croutons with a variety of pâtés, among which the celebrated _foie gras_ and the tasty cheese _Roquefort_. The conversation continued with a certain vivacity, while the tablemates got to know each other and relaxed, also thanks to the good wine accompanying the course.  
Then there was a _potage Parmentier_ , the typical soup based on leeks and potatoes, served with a slice of toasted bread, followed by a small piece of a creamy cheesecake that Vivien, great appreciator of dairy products, enjoyed greatly.  
They had a short break, during which the tablemates chitchatted; then it was time for the second course, a beef tenderloin pie of shortcrust pastry, served with vegetables cooked in butter and mashed potatoes, and a pot roast with bacon and mushrooms accompanied by egg noodles.  
“I knew little about French cuisine”, Eva admitted, between one dish and the other, “I must admit that I’m pleasantly impressed: everything is absolutely delicious.”  
“One of the reasons I like this hotel”, Lee revealed her, “that’s why I stay here each time I come to Chamonix… Changing the subject, I didn’t ask you yet: do you ski?”  
“Yep, I’m from Vermont and I was practically grown up on skis”, she answered smiling: she adored skiing and was good at it, “But even more, I like skating on ice.”  
“Ah! Well, then we can make some run together, if you like.”  
“Sure”, she accepted. Figures if she would refuse…! It wasn’t a romantic date, but skiing with Lee Pace was better than going out for dinner in the best restaurant of the world with anyone else.  
“Try not to tumble down like in that pic”, Vivien teased him, having heard him.  
“I’ll try to avoid it”, Lee grinned.  
“Do you skate?”, Eva asked him.  
“I’m no expert, but I manage it”, he answered, “There’s an Olympic ice-rink, ten minutes away”, he revealed her, “This season, you can skate outdoors, too.”  
“How wonderful! So maybe the day after tomorrow I’ll go there.”  
She hadn’t the courage to invite him; usually she was confident enough, with men, but in front of her favourite actor she felt oddly shy.  
The arrival of the dessert prevented Lee to answer. It was a traditional Christmas cake, based on almonds and nuts called _kougelhopf_ , of Austrian origin but adopted also in Germany and from there passed to Alsace and then in France; a rich liqueur wine called Sauternes accompanied it.  
“Drink only a little of it”, Vivien recommended to Eva, “it’s highly alcoholic, even if it’s so chilled you don’t notice it, and one risks to get drunk in a minute.”  
“Thanks for the warning”, the blonde answered, “I’m not going to get drunk, I want to stay very clearheaded and enjoy Lee’s company fully, every single minute… And anyway, tomorrow we’ll have to go and ski together, how could I, with a hangover?”, she added chuckling. Vivien nodded in confirmation.  
Dinner ended just after 10 p.m.; who wanted a coffee or liqueurs, could have them at the bar counter located in one corner of the room. Meanwhile, on the stage the musicians took their places and began to play a foxtrot. To encourage the guests to dance, the hotel’s entertainers walked among the tables to invite them, but much earlier than they would arrive to their, Richard had already taken Vivien’s hand and led her to the dancefloor: both were fond of dancing, from ballroom to discotheque, and didn’t need any encouragement to go.  
“You dance?”, Lee asked Eva.  
“Yeah, I like very much ballroom dancing, but I manage also Caribbean dancing.”  
“Me too”, he smiled, “Care to dance with me?”  
“Me, dancing with Lee Pace?”, Eva faked hilariously her astonishment, “You can bet on it, cowboy!”, she concluded laughing. The actor laughed at her joke and stretched out his hand to help her getting up, and then they joined Vivien and Richard and the other couples who were moving around the dancefloor.  
Being an expert dancer, Lee adjusted the length of his steps to Eva’s legs, much shorter than his; they found immediately their vibe and soon they were dancing to the music twirling around the dancefloor, as they had done it hundreds of times already.  
After another foxtrot, it was the turn of a tango; Eva, who knew that Vivien and Richard loved especially this style of dance, glanced at the friends and saw them actually perform a particularly difficult figure… which Lee made her do a moment later, guiding her with consummate skill. She smiled, feeling on cloud nine: she was dancing with her favourite actor during New Year’s Eve, what could she possibly ask more of life?  
_That he loses his head for you_ , a small voice answered mockingly in her head. She shooed it away, annoyed: she wouldn’t let the moment ruined by the awareness she was cultivating an impossible dream.  
Time passed quickly, among dances, chatter, laughing and some drinks, mostly non-alcoholic because none of the four friends had any intention to get drunk, nor saw any reason to.  
At ten to midnight, the waiters began to take champagne bottles at the tables, as well as the stem-glasses for the well-wishing toast. The two couples, plus the other four ones, went back to their table and Vivien took one of the two bottles, peeling off the silvery paper around the cork with the expert moves of an efficient sommelier; she inherited the passion for wines from her mother, born and grown up in Italy, and over the years she took classes and earned an official certificate. Both Jeanne the singer and Mireille the parliamentarian’s daughter looked at her slightly scandalised, because in the whole room, she was the only woman taking care of the champagne, but Vivien merely smiled placidly: she had never given a damn about what was considered _manly_ or _womanly_ , to her this distinction simply didn’t exist, there were only things she _was_ able to do and things she _wasn’t_ able to do.  
She exchanged glances with Richard, who realised the situation and was fighting to hold back an ironic smirk: he felt exactly the same way as her. He took four glasses and brought them near her, in order to make it easier for her when she would pour the wine, while Lee and Eva, both used to see Vivien uncork bottles, didn’t bat an eyelid.  
“Ladies and gentlemen, one minute to go!”, the orchestra singer announced, “Prepare the corks!”  
Slowly – sixty seconds are a noticeable time, even if often one thinks the contrary – Vivien opened the muselet, then took it away and began to loosen the mushroom-shaped stopper plugging the bottle. When the singer began to count the last ten seconds, she moved the cork almost to the limit, and at the stroke of midnight, she took it off with a swift movement of her wrist, holding it back without letting it blow off because of obvious safety reasons. She quickly poured the wine in the four flutes, which Richard handed out first to their friends, keeping one for him and one for her. They made a toast, well-wishing to one another, then Richard interlaced one arm with Vivien’s and the two drank, looking into each other’s eyes.  
Watching them, Eva felt a lump in her throat: oh, how much would she wish sharing such a toast with the man of her dreams… who was standing by her, completely unaware of her feelings for him…  
_C’mon Eva, try and pull yourself together!_ , she scolded herself, _You’re in love with a dream, with an idea, actually you don’t know him at all, you just met him, he could be completely different from who you imagine… you_ cannot _speak of love, dammit!_  
However, in her innermost soul, she felt the idea she had built up on Lee Pace during the years she had been his fan, wasn’t wrong at all; and this just made her sadness worse.  
Lee, too, was watching Richard and Vivien; he had been happy to learn his friend had finally found his other half, but seeing them so happy together made him feel more acutely his solitude. In less than three months, he would be 36 and was still single, and this began weighing on him. Oh, not that he wasn’t able to have company, with his job and his looks the could have any woman – and also many men – he could desire; but, after the initial euphoria when he had become aware of this, he soon got bored of superficial relationships, and even more of simple bedroom sport, and had begun wishing to meet a person able to fill his heart like Vivien filled Richard’s.  
With no conscious meaning, he glanced at Eva, standing by him with a glass in her hand; he felt unexpectedly his heart going out to her when he saw her melancholic expression and wished forcefully to be able to do something to cancel it.  
He turned toward her and, pretending not noticing anything unusual, he touched his flute to hers and said in a low voice:  
“I hope you’ll let me have the first dance of the year… and many others, after this.”  
Eva turned sharply her eyes on him and for a second she looked almost frightened.  
“Oh!”, she cried, “Certainly! Ve… very gladly!”, she answered then, nearly stammering. Her heart had jumped up in her throat and she had to gulp it down again, before being able to answer; but she hardly believed what she had just heard, not to speak what the charming American actor’s request implied, that is, he was attracted to her. _Too good to be true_ , she told herself, sipping at the champagne to wet her parched throat, _He’s just trying to be nice. Yeah, it can’t be otherwise…_  
For a moment, Lee had seen vulnerability in Eva’s clear blue irises and felt the compelling need to protect her; then her eyes became again peppy and perspicacious as usual while she looked at him, sipping her wine.  
At that moment, the orchestra began to play again, so he put down his glass and stretched out his hand to Eva, who accepted it, putting down, she too, her glass. They went back to the dancefloor with other couples, including Richard and Vivien, and moved to the tempo of a romantic Viennese waltz.  
After less than an hour, Vivien and Richard took their leave, longing to stay alone and celebrate the new year’s arrival; because of his work, actually, they weren’t able to spend together all the time they wished, even if they did everything to do it at every opportunity they had, therefore they would use every minute of their stay in Chamonix. They wished each other all the best, kissing and hugging them, and while Eva and Lee went on dancing, the two English people headed to their room.  
As they got there, Vivien went to the bathroom, where she carefully removed her makeup and let down her hair; when she returned to the bedroom, she found Richard in shirtsleeves and barefoot – this was something he liked very much to do, especially if there was a soft wall-to-wall carpet like here – unfastening his tie. On the small table by his side, there were two high stemmed glasses and a little bottle of white wine, as well as a serving plate with colourful fruit skewers.  
“Oh, and these, where do they come from?”, Vivien asked, pleasantly surprised.  
“During dinner, I went to the reception and ordered them”, Richard answered, glad he had done something she appreciated: he knew how much she loved fruit and white wine, “They recommended me a Bourgogne chardonnay.”  
“Seems perfect”, she declared smiling, sitting on one of the small armchairs and taking off her high-heeled shoes. The actor laid his tie on the seatback where he placed the other clothes he had already taken off, and then he sat down, too, and uncorked the bottle, pouring the wine in the two glasses. He handed one to Vivien, who took it, thanking him with a tender smile.  
“Cheers”, he said, touching her glass with his and making them tinkle.  
“Cheers”, she answered. They had a sip, then took a skewer each and began to eat the fruit pieces.  
“Lee looked struck by Eva”, Vivien mused, “What’s your opinion?”  
“I agree”, Richard nodded, “Actually, I think he feels very much attracted to her.”  
“It would be fantastic if they end up in love like the two of us”, she stated, “I mean, Eva has already a crush on Lee, and knowing him as I do, I have no doubt she could fall in love with him in earnest; if he reciprocates her, it’s done.”  
“Let’s see… Anyway, I hope for it, too, because both feel very lonely; and they are two wonderful persons who deserve to be happy.”  
“You’re right”, Vivien nodded, “Let’s hope for the best…”  
They finished eating the fruits and sipping the wine, and then Richard got up and stretched out his hand to Vivien, helping her doing the same. Slowly, he drew her against his body and closed his arms around her.  
“I wanted to properly kiss you throughout the whole evening”, he said in a low voice: his warm baritone voice made her heartbeat increase. His voice was one of the things she most liked of him, even because, being an actor, he was able to use it very well to express all the shades of human emotions, and it was no exception when he spoke love words to her, not at all. In that moment he was telling her he loved, admired and wanted her.  
“Me, too”, she whispered, raising her face toward his. Their lips met, brushing tenderly once, twice; then they parted and the kiss deepened, passing slowly from sweet to sensual, to passionate. Vivien lifted her arms to tie them around Richard’s neck, while their bodies crushed together, seeking one another. When they separated, they looked in each other’s eyes for a moment, and then kissed again. Richard’s hands climbed slowly Vivien’s back, under the long tresses of her dark hair, reaching her nape; he lowered the zipper of her dress, opening it to brush the skin of her back. Vivien broke off the kiss and pulled slightly away to allow him to slip down the sleeves; her gown fell softly on the ground, revealing she was wearing elegant lace lingerie, dark red to follow the tradition affirming that putting on red underwear on New Year’s Eve brings good fortune, with a matching garter and sheer black silk stockings.  
Making a naughty face, Vivien lifted her feet to get out the gown heaping around her ankles, then she took two steps back and turned slowly, so he could admire her on all sides; her culottes left half of her beautiful buttocks bare and Richard felt his trousers becoming positively tight. His bright blue eyes clouded because of crave; he got rid of his shirt and of the underlying t-shirt, dropping them somewhere, and, passing over her dress, he got near and took her again into his arms, pushing her against the wall covered in wooden panels. He seized her wrists and raised them over her head, then he lowered his face to kiss her fervently; Vivien reciprocated with equal passion, already feeling her legs give in at the expectation of what was coming. Richard was a generous and devoted lover, he adored giving her pleasure at least as much as receiving it from her, if not more, and often he made her literally breathless; like now, while he left her wrists to bend lower and brush her neck with his lips, sucking the delicate skin of her throat and caressing it with his tongue. Vivien threw back her head to give him more room, moved her arms around his waist and sank her fingertips in his muscular shoulders, and meanwhile amorous sighs fell from her lips.

  
Her passionate response thrilled and excited Richard; he pushed his pelvis forward, in order to make her feel all his loving longing for her, and she reciprocated rubbing herself against him. He gave off a groan of pleasure because of the sensation.  
“Oh Vivien…!”, he panted, breathless. He caressed her back again, reaching for the hook of the strapless bra she wore; he opened it and took it off, then he stooped on one knee and lowered her culottes, which she was wearing correctly above the garter. Her scent – the scent of a turned on woman – intoxicated him; letting down the tiny garment, he grabbed her by her hips and laid his lips on her female treasure. Vivien uttered a delighted cry while feeling him tormenting her exquisitely, making her shudder out of pleasure and fuelling her crave even more.  
“R… Richard!”, she moaned, “Please…”  
He _adored_ hearing her imploring him, in these moments; and he was always more than willing to satisfy her requests. He parted her nether lips, preparing her for him, than he got off her and stood up again; he pulled back a little and quickly unfastened belt and zipper, taking off the last pieces of his clothes.  
Seeing him finally in all his masculine magnificence, Vivien reached for him and touched him intimately, closing her fingers around the symbol of his manhood to caress it. Overwhelmed, Richard uttered a low groan; his knees trembled and he sought support on the wall, putting his hands at both sides of her head.  
“Vivien…”, he squawked hoarsely. Vivien continued to caress him for some more moments, enjoying the thrilling sensation of _power_ that gave her the awareness that she, and she alone, was the woman capable to make him feel like this; finally she let him go. At this point, he grabbed her hips and lifted her to his level, positioning himself; Vivien surrounded his waist with her legs, nodding to encourage him. Looking into her eyes, Richard pushed slowly, entering her and joining them in the substantial expression of love. Vivien parted her lips in a sigh of pleasure which wasn’t only physical. Hearing her, he felt his heart tremble out of emotion; he lowered his head.  
“I love you, Vivien”, he whispered on her lips, before kissing her; then he began to move, slowly, making her moan in other ecstatic sighs.  
In this position, Vivien was entirely, happily at his mercy; but there was one thing she still could do: she clenched her inner muscles, causing him to gasp in delighted surprise.  
Urged by her moans, Richard increased rhythm and span of his thrusts; then he began to rotate his pelvis, seeking her special spot. He heard her gasp and realised he had found it, therefore he maintained position and insisted; Vivien’s amorous moans became louder and louder, encouraging him to continue.  
Vivien felt like drowning in a sea of pure ecstasy, both of body and soul; this was the true meaning of _lovemaking_ , the physical union as the tangible expression of spiritual, emotional, mental union between two distinct individuals who, in this moment, become _one_.  
“Me too”, she whispered among sighs, “I love you, Richard…”  
In her depths, she perceived the first signs of the oncoming orgasm and tensed in the anticipation of completion; she closed her eyes, exhaling another sigh.  
Richard felt her tense and realised she was near; he too, was near to the acme, and therefore he increased even further the speed of his movements. A few moments later he felt her contract spasmodically around his flesh, while a loud moan escaped her throat; he let himself go and joined her in the rapture of fulfilment, while their love-cries blended in one. For long moments, world ceased to exist, time stopped and the universe was filled only by the two of them, wild beating hearts, laboured breathings, flushed bodies, obscured minds in the paroxysm of completion.  
Then, finally, they returned from the heavenly dimension in which they had projected themselves together and came down again in the normal world; Vivien reopened her eyes and caught him watching at her, his clear grey-blue irises shining, the corners of his lips slightly uplifted in a small, tender smile.  
“I’ve got something for you”, he said in a low voice.  
“Something else?”, she asked, arching her eyebrow and looking very cheeky, making him chuckle.  
“You’re a terrible _rascal_ ”, he stated, amused.  
“I know”, Vivien replied, chuckling in turn, “You like me for this, too, now don’t you?”  
“Indeed”, the actor admitted; he put her delicately down, “Better we go to bed”, he suggested; their activity had them quite heated up, but now that they had finished, they would soon feel cold. Therefore, they put on their nighties – Richard simply brief boxers and t-shirt, Vivien a long silk nightgown– and slipped under the comforter.  
“So, what is it, this something for me?”, Vivien urged Richard, smiling intrigued. Smiling back at her, he took her hand and brought it to his lips, kissing her fingers, then he sat up, turned and rummaged in the drawer of his night table. He pulled out a small red box, turned again to her and, opening it, he showed its content.  
In an ivory silk bed, there laid a ring in white gold and diamonds intertwining in an elegant arabesque of a vaguely _elven_ design.

  
Vivien felt her eyes almost popping out of their sockets. She sprang up sitting, staring at the ring open-mouthed, unable to utter a single word, almost unable to breathe. Then she raised abruptly her eyes to Richard’s, who was watching her intently to spy her reactions.  
“Wh… what…?”, she stuttered.  
“Vivien Grosworth”, the actor enunciated her name, articulating it with the clear elocution typical to one used to act in theatre, “I love you immensely and nothing in the whole world would make me happier than become your husband. Will you marry me?”  
Vivien bat her eyelids a number of times, slowly; then very quickly, because tears had suddenly welled up in her eyes, while his words became clear in her brain, which had been totally clouded by amazement. They had never talked about marriage, during the over one year and a half since they were together, and even if she had sometimes thought about it, she never had actual expectations in this matter: she wasn’t interested in marriage, not really, because she was content to be with Richard, to love him and to be loved by him.  
She brushed the ring with her fingertip; it was gorgeous, clearly chosen basing on her tastes, which Richard knew well by now: he knew she appreciated white gold and things of unusual shape.  
“I… have no words”, she whispered.  
“I need just one”, he said in an undertone, reminding her he had asked her a question, to which he obviously wished an answer. Vivien looked again in his eyes, thrilled, touched to the bottom of her soul.  
“Yes, Richard!”, she burst out, “Yes…”  
His smile became as bright as the sun. He pulled out the ring from the box and, taking her left hand, slipped it on her ring finger. They realised immediately it was a bit too large, but in order not to rouse her suspicions, he hadn’t be able to ask her size and he had therefore to take a guess; anyway this wouldn’t be a problem, he would let it fix as soon as possible. Meanwhile, Vivien would wear it on her middle finger, where it fitted perfectly.  
“It’s striking”, she whispered, admiring the jewel.  
“Glad you like it”, Richard smiled, “The moment I saw it, I realised it was the perfect ring for you.”  
“And you’ve been right”, she confirmed, looking at him and smiling back; then she asked, intrigued, “For how long have you been thinking about this?”  
“Some weeks”, he admitted, “Consciously, I mean, but I think that unconsciously it has been for much longer, otherwise I wouldn’t understand why this idea popped in my mind as soon as I received Greg’s invitation to his wedding.”  
Greg was his cousin, whom he was particularly attached to because, when he was only 14, he helped him to convince his mother to allow him to attend the Pattison College in Coventry, where he could study music, singing, dance and acting, which had made up the basis of his profession. His cousin, a few years older than him, about ten years earlier had a bad divorce, but he found another woman to start again; and obviously he didn’t forget to invite his favourite cousin, who had become famous also thanks to him.  
“I see”, Vivien nodded, “I… well, sometimes I thought about it, but I never mentioned it to you because, as you know, I never thought marriage indispensable to the happiness of a couple. But this doesn’t mean at all that I’m not more than happy to accept your proposal”, she added in a firm tone, in order to prevent immediately any confusion about it. Richard nodded: he was well aware of his fiancée’s independent spirit and would never dream of walking over it; therefore, he was doubly happy she had accepted to marry him.  
“You’ll have to inform the Armitage Army”, Vivien suggested at this point.  
“I’ll tweet about it tomorrow… or better, technically today”, Richard said, “So we’ll prevent any rumours from those who may see the ring on your finger and post a picture online.”  
“These are the wages of celebrity”, she commented; she thought she would never completely get used to be with a celebrity, but until now she never had bad experiences, at most a persistent glance in the Tube or at the restaurant with friends, or in some shop. She hoped it would continue like this.  
Before going again under the comforter, she took off the ring and put it on the night table; then Richard engulfed her in his arms and they fell asleep this way, holding each other tight.


	2. Part Two

 

Part Two

Meanwhile Eva and Lee turned around on the dance floor, one dance after the other, and so they made almost 3 a.m. The young woman had soon her feet aching because if the vertiginous heels, but she would endure anything to stay in her favourite actor’s arms and so she continued undaunted; however, he was used to reproduce even the tiniest shades of emotions and actions and therefore to notice them in other people, so he perceived her discomfort and, on the pretext to be tired, he took her back to the table, where they sat down.  
“Some more champagne?”, he asked, reaching for the nearest bottle.  
“Yes, thanks…”  
With regret, Lee found out that the bottle was empty. He looked for another one and, having found it, he poured the straw-coloured liquid in Eva’s flute, then in his own. They toasted again and took a sip.  
“I think this is one of the best New Year’s Eves I ever had in my life”, Lee stated, “Above all, because of the company”, he added, smiling at her in such a way, Eva felt her knees go jelly.  
“Ah… for me, it’s the best, ever”, she replied, trying to look casual, but actually, she’d have gladly _fangirled all over him_ , as Vivien would jestingly say. _Maldito_ , she thought, using the Spanish – tongue she spoke very well – word for _blasted, you’re even better than I thought, not only physically, but also as a person… and now, what am I supposed to do? If I was lost before, now I’m crazy about him, head over heels… Poor me…_  
She realised he was looking at her questioningly and so she explained, trying to use a joking tone:  
“I mean, what can I possibly ask more from life than being here, in a famous ski location, in a luxurious hotel, drinking champagne and celebrating the New Year together with my favourite actor?”  
Lee’s smile broadened: okay, maybe it wasn’t the best of ideas, to joke this way, because if earlier she felt her knees go jelly, not her heart jumped in her throat.  
“Am I really your favourite actor?”, she heard him ask in an undertone. She gulped, and then nodded:  
“Yes, of course, otherwise I wouldn’t say it… I’m not the type who compliments people just because”, she smiled to mitigate this statement that otherwise could be sound too gruff, “For example, I like particularly Joe Mcmillan because in some ways we’ve got a similar character: passionate, firm, proud. I like Thranduil, too, very much, because he’s a complex character, seemingly crusty and arrogant, but you can guess he has deeply suffered, in the past, and even if he’s a very tough guy, he has his weaknesses. I like complicated characters and you portray them very well. Ned the pie-maker is delicious, but too _simple_ , in this perspective, for my taste…”  
“Me too, I prefer to play complex characters”, Lee revealed, “For an actor, they represent a challenge, demanding greater commitment and therefore, when I do well, I have greater satisfaction. I admit however that sometimes I like also to do some _simpler_ character, to use your words, just so, to have fun and relax.”  
“Yeah, that’s understandable: challenges are okay – I like them, too, or I wouldn’t have taken the responsibility of the job at the British Museum – but one needs also relaxing breaks, in between.”  
“Very well said”, the actor approved. At that precise moment, Eva felt the irresistible need to yawn: after all, she was up since the early morning and had behind her a number of hours travelling; besides, she felt emotionally worn out because of the exciting encounter with her idol, not to mention the hours spent dancing with him. She turned to the other side and concealed the yawn behind her hand.  
“Excuse me”, she murmured, slightly embarrassed, “but I’m really tired…”  
Lee sprang immediately up and stretched out his hand to her.  
“No, _you_ excuse _me_ , for not having noticed it”, he said, showing his truly gentlemanly nature, “I’d say it’s anyway a good time to go to sleep”, he added, while she accepted his hand and got up, “I walk you to your room.”  
They went up to Eva’s floor, and then he escorted her to the door of her room. The young woman had been quiet the whole way, suddenly a little uncomfortable: she wasn’t an unexperienced young virgin and she had realised the actor felt attracted to her. However, it wasn’t this to make her uncomfortable, but the cheeky images going around in her mind, about herself inviting him into her room to spend the rest of the night together. She wasn’t a prude, but she wasn’t the type to invite a man in her bed just a few hours after having met him, either. Okay, technically she knew Lee for a couple of years, that is since she saw him playing the Elven king Thranduil in _The Hobbit_ – no, even for a longer time, because the first time ever was in _Pushing Daisies_ some four or five years earlier – but of course this didn’t count.  
Slightly worried because of her silence, Lee kept quiet; he felt strangely on tenterhooks. This young woman was a special person: it wasn’t the first time he felt an immediate attraction to someone, but until now it had always been something merely physical, while with Eva it went further, trespassing into the intellectual and emotional area. It felt like a subtle magic wrapping them up and he didn’t want to risk ruining it by saying something wrong, as it happened sometimes when he talked without thinking; whatever it was what bothered Eva, he would give her space to resolve it, staying by her side in case she would like to tell him.  
Eva pulled out the badge from her pouch and opened the door to her room, then hesitated. Damn, why wasn’t she like some of her female friends, who wouldn’t have the slightest scruple to make a sexual proposal to a man, let alone to a famous and gorgeous actor?? She sighed mentally: she was who she was, end of story.  
She turned toward Lee, raising her eyes to his.  
“Good night”, she wished him in a low voice, “It’s been a great time.”  
“Yeah, I agree”, Lee confirmed. Eva’s eyes were two marvellous pieces of sky and for long moments, he felt captured; he wanted to take her into his arms and kiss her, and involuntarily his eyes dropped to stare at her full lips. They had to be so soft…  
Realizing where his eyes were aiming, Eva stiffened, suddenly caught by an irrational fear; noticing her start, Lee diverted his gaze and, lowering it further, he took her hand, and then raised again his eye in hers while bringing her fingers to his lips.  
“Good night, Eva, see you tomorrow”, he kissed her hand gallantly, “At lunch, so we go skiing in the afternoon?”, he asked, reminding her they talked about it during dinner.  
Eva wondered why she had been so scared – after all, he hadn’t _done_ anything – but now she relaxed; reassured by his attitude, she managed to answer with some confidence:  
“Of course! What time, for lunch?”  
“With Richard and Vivien we talked about half past twelve, is that good for you?”, he suggested. Eva nodded:  
“Perfect.”  
Noticing he was still holding her hand, he let it go.  
“Not too difficult downhills, as we kept early hours”, he joked. She chuckled:  
“Yeah, better don’t push it, and anyway I’m out of practice: I had no occasion to ski, since I relocated to London. Besides, I haven’t got my skis here, as they stayed back in Vermont, at my parent’s: I was planning on rent them here, but obviously it’s not like using my own.”  
“You’re right… You can ask at the desk, I know they rent also skates.”  
“No, those I brought with me, they’re not bulky like skis”, Eva revealed, and then she took a breath, “See you tomorrow, then.”  
“See you tomorrow…”  
With one last parting smile, Eva turned and opened the door, then she closed it behind her; she had a glimpse of Lee who, hands in his pockets, was heading back to the lift to go up to his floor. She thought he had his shoulders slightly bent and guessed he was tired.  
Sighing, she threw her pouch on the bed, sat on it and took off her shoes, then she got up again and began to undress. Looking at the bed, she sighed again: would she be another type of woman, at this time it would be Lee taking off her dress and in a few minutes, they would roll on that same bed. Except she had never been a one-night stand woman, she wanted feeling… Had she been stupid? Would it be so bad to indulge in a night of sex – or even more than one, because both of them would stay in Chamonix some more days – with Lee Pace, the actor she was _fangirling_ for years…? No, of course it wouldn’t be bad, but what if she would fall for him for good, while for him it would be just a pleasurable vacation affair? She already had lost her head, let alone if she would go _further_. If only she could hope he was interested in her, _really_ interested…  
Sighing again, she turned away from those thoughts: it was no use tormenting herself, it would be what it had to be. She hung her dress in the wardrobe, went to the bathroom to remove her makeup and brush her hair, then she slipped under the comforter and turned off the light. Restless as she was, she didn’t expect to fall asleep any soon, but instead sleep caught her after just a few minutes.

***

Lee called for the lift, which was still there and so opened immediately; he got in and pressed the button for his floor, then he loosed his tie, unbuttoning the collar of his shirt, musing about what just happened, or rather, _not_ happened.  
For a moment, he had perceived in Eva an opening, an attitude inviting him to make a move; but then she withdrew. Evidently she changed her mind; yet he knew she liked him, hadn’t she told him he was her favourite actor? She was for sure a woman who knew her stuff; and he didn’t think she was a prude. Hence, her reticence must be due to a precise and conscious choice, coherent with her character; he concluded she wasn’t a loose girl, but something told him that, when she gave herself to someone, she gave all of her, certainly not only her body. He realised the idea attracted him, contributing to make him like her even more; in his circles, it wasn’t easy meeting a clean and sincere woman like Eva seemed to be. He decided he wanted to know her better; as she too lived in New York, when he wouldn’t be engaged in his job, it would be easy to see her… Assuming she agreed to it, that is: he wasn’t so arrogant to take it for granted.  
Meanwhile, after exiting the lift, he had arrived in front of the door to his room; he opened it, then he undressed and slipped under the comforter. He fell asleep, without realising he was smiling.

***

The morning after, the four friends met for lunch. While they were sitting down at their table, Eva noticed the ring ad Vivien’s finger; she waited for them to take their seats, then she addressed her and Richard:  
“Maybe you must tell us something, you two?”, she asked with a knowing smirk; she had noticed it was on her middle finger and not on her ring finger, but even so, it looked significant.  
The British actor chuckled, and so did Vivien.  
“We tell you only if you promise to keep it to yourselves, for the moment”, Vivien said, sobering.  
“Of course!”, Eva assured her.  
“Certainly”, Lee nodded.  
Vivien laid therefore her left hand on the table, showing off the ring to both her friends.  
“Richard asked me to marry him”, she said in a low voice, gazing lovingly to her fiancé, “and I said yes.”  
Eva smiled from ear to ear, super happy for her two friends; she would have liked to jump up and hug them with all the heat of her passionate character, but contained herself in order not to draw on them the attention of all the other patrons.  
“Congratulations!”, she just said therefore, under her breath, sincerely but discreetly.  
“Congratulations”, Lee repeated, “Did you already set a date?”  
“Oh goodness, no”, Richard answered, “I just proposed her a few hours ago, give us time to think about it!”, he concluded grinning, imitated by his friend, then he looked at him, sobering, “By the way, old boy… what about being my best man?”  
Lee’s eyes widened for a second.  
“Oh geez! You honour me, my friend… but I thought you would ask your brother”, he added, questioningly.  
“Indeed, Chris will he my other best man”, Richard nodded.  
“Well, I definitely accept”, the American actor said, “Thanks for asking me.”  
“And what about you, Vivien? Vanessa?”, Eva asked, referring to the other one’s best friend ever, whom she knew, too.  
“I was thinking about her, yeah”, Vivien confirmed, “I’ve been her maid of honour; if she accepts, she’ll be my matron of honour, being already married”, she added, “But as Richard will have two best men, I’ll have at least another friend, as maid of honour, and… I was thinking about you, Eva”, she concluded, smiling.  
For a moment, the younger woman stayed open-mouthed; recovering, she felt again the impulse to get up and hug her friend, but restrained herself, showing noticeable self-control, and said smiling:  
“Thanks, I’m honoured.”  
In that moment, the waiter arrived with the menu of the day; they made their choices, preferring light food because they wanted to ski and it was better not to exaggerate.  
The afternoon on the snow was fun and carefree; they laughed a lot when Vivien bumped into Richard, making them both fall over, and Lee captured the moment on his mobile phone, covered in fresh snow and in a tangle of legs and arms.  
“The Armitage Army will laugh to death”, he told Eva, grinning, and she nodded laughing in turn. Meanwhile Vivien, taking advantage of the situation, gave Richard a kiss on his lips, before retiring and trying to get up, but he grabbed her and made her fall back again, taking his _revenge_ by kissing her in turn on her lips. Lee, still holding his mobile phone, shot quickly a second picture.  
“I won’t post _this_ one”, he assured Eva, “except the both of them give me permission, I mean.”  
“I think Richard’s fans, those who really love him, would like to see a kiss between him and his fiancée”, the young woman mused, “but of course it’s up to them deciding if divulge or not a private moment of tenderness.”  
Both knew Richard’s reticence, who defended his privacy with great determination, and therefore none of them would even dream about give a picture of their intimacy to the public, without their approval.  
When the hilarious moment was over, they resumed skiing; the slope was artificially lit, therefore it was possible to ski even after twilight, but Eva, being out of shape, preferred not to exaggerate and at about 4.30 p.m. announced she would stop.  
“I come with you”, Vivien said, “So, if you like, we can go to the hotel’s spa.”  
“Fantastic idea!”, Eva approved, who adored relaxing in a spa.  
“Come, ol’ man, our damsels want to stay alone and have elegantly dismissed us”, Lee told Richard, laughing. The Brit laughed, too:  
“Very well, sweet ladies, see you later.”  
Eva felt her heart quicken its pace hearing Lee talking about _their_ damsels, but promptly she pulled herself together, thinking he said it just out of gallant politeness.  
The two women returned therefore to the hotel, where they went to their rooms to change; soon after they met again, equipped with a towel and wrapped in the soft bathrobes of the hotel, and went down to the sub-basement, where the spa was located.  
It was quite early, hence there was only a few people; they hanged their bathrobes and, following the correct rule, widespread in many Countries, entered naked into the spectacular Finnish sauna, structured as a cavern covered with changing colour led spotlight, which added the benefits of chromotherapy to those of the traditional sauna. Here they found a couple sitting in a corner; they nodded to them in greeting and were reciprocated, and then sat down on their towels.

  
“So, what do you think about Lee, now that you’ve met him in person?”, Vivien asked in an undertone, in order both not to disturb and not let others hear about their own business.  
“He’s even more attractive, in blood and flesh”, Eva admitted, “and I don’t mean it only physically. I like him, for good”, she hesitated, then thought that she could tell Vivien with no shyness, sure about her understanding and discretion, “I could fall for him for good, if… if only I had any hope for him to like me.”  
Viviana chose her words carefully before speaking: she didn’t think it fair to give Eva false hope, but neither to nip her hope with no reason.  
“I cannot speak for him, of course”, she finally said, “but for sure it doesn’t seem to me he dislikes you.”  
“Really?”, Eva said, frightened she would fool herself, “It’d be just too much luck…”  
“You can never know”, Vivien commented quietly, “We’ll stay here until Sunday, there’s still two full days before departure: we’ll see how things go…”  
Eva nodded: her friend was right, she could only wait to see the possible developments and act accordingly.  
After the sauna, they bathed in a tub full of cold water, then rested and repeated the cycle; while they were laying on their stuffed chaises longue for the second time, wrapped in their bathrobes and in the blankets, Eva had Vivien telling her the exact way Richard had asked her to marry him.  
“So he didn’t kneel down, in making his proposal?”, she enquired. Vivien shook her head:  
“No, and frankly I’m glad of it because I think I would feel embarrassed by such an attitude, even if it’s the traditional way. It was romantic anyway.”  
“Yeah, I agree”, Eva admitted, “I know that you didn’t talk about a date yet, but do you think it’ll be soon?”  
“I don’t know… much will depend on his work commitments. When this vacation is over, he must return to Vancouver and continue on filming _Hannibal_ ; we’ll see from there. I can only tell you I’d like it to be during the warm season… June, or even July.”  
“Fine! Me too, I like better the idea of a marriage in summer…”  
As the second rest was over, they headed for the steam room, and finally, after a nice cold shower, they put on their bikinis and used the Jacuzzi in the heated pool.  
When she returned to her room, Vivien found Richard who had already changed, getting ready for dinner.  
“So, how was it, in the spa?”, the actor asked her, after welcoming her with a kiss.  
“Fine!”, she answered, opening the dresser to pull out her underwear, “Eva told me in confidence that she likes Lee very much, I mean she _actually_ likes him, not only as an actor and celebrity… They’d be a very nice couple, won’t they?”  
“Yeah. Lee, too, likes her very much, he told me so… It’d be really nice if something would start, between them.”  
“I’d be very glad, for both of them”, Vivien stated, going to the bathroom to dry her wet hair, “We made them meet… now it’s up to them.”  
“Right, we can’t do any more…”

***

The following day, they decided they would ski in the morning, and in the early afternoon go and spend a couple of hours ice-skating. Having had a hearty full breakfast, at noon they ate quickly a sandwich and then headed for the open-air rink, which at this hour was almost deserted. They put on their skates – Eva her own, the others had them rented on the spot – and then entered the rink, where they heard famous Viennese waltzes running. Vivien, who wasn’t very good at skating, held on tight to Richard.  
“Any excuse is good, to stick close to your fiancé, he?”, Eva teased her.  
“You can bet on it!”, Vivien laughed, “And thank goodness, you taught me something, in the past months”, she added, referring to their hanging out in some of London’s ice rinks, like in Hyde Park or at Somerset House, “Come on, let us see what you’re capable of”, she invited her, thinking she could impress Lee, in case he still needed it. She had well noticed the way the two of them glanced at each other: the attraction between them was clear.  
“Give me a few minutes to warm up”, Eva asked, and then started. She went round the rink a couple of times, skating both forward and backward, kicking the air with her legs – wrapped in tight black leggings – and moving her articulations, while the other three skated lazily. Then she came up beside them and announced:  
“I go…”

  
“Yeah!”, Lee smiled at her; thrilled, the young woman left them and, while she was getting a running start, she prayed to all the deities of all ages and latitudes she knew not to make her look like a fool. She performed a simple jump with consummate skill, and then she got another running start and performed superbly a second, more difficult one. Heart in her throat, afraid she could go wrong but determined to show her very best, she performed some choreographic figures to prepare the jump and, to round off, finished with the most difficult jump she was capable of, a double axel – the triple was beyond her athletic skills, but anyway she wasn’t a professional skater.  
She got back to her friends; Vivien began to clap her hands, and Richard did the same. Lee had a definitely admiring expression on his face:  
“Oh wow, you’re very good!”, he cried when she stopped at his side; Eva’s eyes shined as stars at his compliment.  
“Thank you”, she murmured, slightly panting because of the effort, “I exercised skating around in London”, she added.  
At that moment, the surely most famous waltz in the world began to play, _The Blue Danube_.  
“I won’t miss this”, Lee said, stretching out his hand to Eva, “May I have this dance, madam?”  
“Gladly, sir”, the blonde accepted promptly, grabbing his hand and smiling; they set off on the rink and began dancing on the ice, finding quickly their pace as they did on New Year’s Eve.  
Vivien watched them.  
“They look like made for each other”, she whispered to Richard. He laid one hand on her waist, preparing to take her in the middle of the rink.  
“You’re right, they fit nicely together”, he commented, “You can see they’re connected.”  
Eva and Lee danced circling around the rink as they had done it already a thousand times; he wasn’t a big expert of figure skating, but was enough good at dancing, and Eva was very easy to guide. He made her do some pirouettes, nothing complicated, as his capability level was definitely lower than hers, but enough to have fun together.  
Meanwhile, Richard and Vivien skated in pair, but without actually dancing because none of the two were enough good to do so. When the piece was over, the other two joined them; for a couple of hours, they had fun trying figures and jumps, and even Vivien took on the simple three turn, helped by Eva, and risked a couple of tumbles, the second of them made her end up right into Richard’s arms. The British actor grabbed her and, in order not to lose his balance, he shoved her up against the fence.  
“Hey, if you want to _get me horizontal_ , you’ve got only to mention it”, he whispered in her ear, meaningfully. Vivien grinned:  
“The thought popped into my head, indeed…”  
“Vivien, would you stop already to fall on Richard?”, Eva teased her, laughing hard while passing near them, “You do it on purpose, confess!”  
“I plead guilty, Your Honour!”, the charged replied, making them all laugh.  
Around halfway in the afternoon, the rink became crowded, therefore the four friends decided to go back to their hotel.  
“What about warm up with a nice mulled wine?”, Vivien suggested. The other ones accepted gladly, so they headed for the hotel bar, which offered a very good product, made of a rich red wine of Burgundy just a little sweetened, in order not to exceed the alcohol by volume, served with cookies. They sat at a table; while drinking and chitchatting in a very relaxed way, Richard reminded something he forgot to do in the morning.  
“Excuse me, Eva, would you mind to take a picture of Vivien and me?”, he asked her, rummaging in his pocket to find his mobile phone, “I wanted to tweet the news about our engagement, before some blabbermouth notices that Vivien wears a ring and spreads the word, maybe even specifying we’ll marry next month”, he concluded, making a face halfway between amused and resigned.  
“Gladly”, she answered, taking the phone he was handing her, “I’ll take some shots, so you can choose the best one, okay?”  
Richard shove his chair near to Vivien’s, putting his arm around her; she leaned her head on his shoulder, preparing a smile for the camera.  
“Show off your ring”, Eva exhorted her; at this point Vivien switched fingers, passing it on the finger ring so that there couldn’t be any possible equivocation on its meaning, and laid her hand on her forearm in order to make it well visible. The blonde museum curator shot, then invited them to change their pose, and Richard made Vivien turn to embrace her from behind; again, Vivien showed off the ring and Eva shot. A third shot took the two fiancés hugging, looking into each other’s eyes, smiling, the ring again well highlighted.  
When they examined the pictures, Richard chose the first two – seeming him the third one too intimate, he decided to keep it to them – and then posted them both, with the explanation, opened and closed by a red heart _Glad 2 announce that today 01/01/15 I asked Vivien 2 marry me & she said yes! We didn’t set a date yet, but now we’re officially engaged._  
Vivien didn’t hide her nervousness:  
“I just hope not to raise jealousy…”  
“Let them not even try to”, Richard said, gloomily, “or else I’ll cancel the tweet.”  
Indeed this was his way to protest – with his distinctive discretion and refusal of polemics – when on Twitter his fans made impolite comments, especially if addressed to his fiancée, where his tolerance was zero.  
“Oh, don’t worry”, said Lee instead in a relaxed way, “you’ll see you get ninety percent positive answers and the inevitable ten percent negative ones. Try not to mind them, they don’t deserve it.”  
“Yes, I know”, Vivien sighed, “but nonetheless, it pains me receiving critics out of envy, delivered with the sole purpose to throw venom. Especially women are capable to be terribly mean.”  
“He, I know”, Eva said, reminding how in high school she had been bullied by some lasses, mortally envious of her because she was not only a very pretty girl, but also a brilliant student; fortunately she had always had quite a temper and could stand up very forcefully. Being her a boxing athlete played a significant role, though, she remembered with some ferocious satisfaction, “Wait, I make a positive comment right now…”  
“Me too”, Lee quickly announced, taking out his mobile phone. Both swiftly typed their congratulation messages, while on Richard’s account were already appearing approval hearts and fans’ comments.  
“Hey Eva, we’re engaged, too!”, Lee cried at a certain point, laughing. The young woman jumped and blushed conspicuously:  
“What??”  
Lee showed her the picture someone tweeted to him, portraying him and Eva while dancing on the ice, with the comment _Lee Pace’s new fiancée?_  
“But what the he…ck!”, Eva cried, avoiding only at the very last second a much more colourful word.  
“Well, at least it’s an interrogative form”, Richard pointed out, when his friend showed it to him, too.  
“But can’t they just mind their own business?”, Eva burst out, shaken, then looked at Vivien, “ _Now_ I understand your situation…”  
“Sometimes it’s really tough”, Vivien admitted, “You can get used to media exposure, more or less, but not to abusive critics.”  
“Unfortunately there’ll be always some”, Lee commented with a sigh, “The important thing is, not letting ‘em hit you.”  
“You’re right”, Vivien agreed.  
“The disadvantage to be with a famous actor”, Richard said, sorry for her, touching her arm in an apologising gesture.  
“Hey!”, she cried, grabbing his hand and clutching it reassuringly, “Look, I knew what I was going to face, when we came out with our relationship; and anyway I’m a big girl, I can bear the pressure, especially knowing you support me.”  
“This, always”, he said vehemently.  
When, around six o’clock, they went back to their room to freshen up and change for dinner, checking Richard’s account they saw that, actually, the large majority of the comments were favourable, many even enthusiastic, with many hearts, diamond rings, confetti and other merrymaking emoticons. Some were hilarious, others laconic; only a couple were definitely hostile and Richard frowned in a dangerous expression.  
“I’ll never understand people claiming to be my fans and then look like incapable to be happy for me”, he grumbled with obvious distress.  
“Ha, as for this, me too, I’ll never understand this kind of people”, Vivian said, distressed because of her fiancé’s distress, “They’re not true fans, they’re _trolls_ , living out of envy and having fun at stirring the pot. They’ll never be capable to be happy for someone else, because they aren’t for themselves. They don’t deserve any consideration.”  
“On this, you’re perfectly right; but I’m sorry to see the inevitable battles they unleash among other fans, those who support me truly. Really, if they aren’t my supporters, nobody forces them to follow me, they should just click on the _unfollow_ button and got over it!”  
“Would they be endowed with common sense, they’d do it… but they aren’t. With these people, it’s a losing battle. The only thing to do is, ignore them. If things become too difficult, you can always post a tweet about it, inviting your supporters not to pay attention to such people. If all act like they don’t exist, they’ll end up getting tired and going away.”  
Richard nodded:  
“I’ll do as you suggest”, he smiled at her, grateful for her support, “You know always how to cheer me up… thank you.”  
Vivien got near to him and caressed his cheek with such a sweet gesture, he felt a lump in his throat.  
“It’s what people in love with each other do, am I right?”, she whispered. Richard took her hand and kissed its palm, tenderly:  
“You are…”

***

The attraction between Lee and Eva was by now more than evident; during dinner, the two flirted openly, but none dared to take the next step, because both felt this could be more than a simple affair, but instead an important thing, and therefore they didn’t want to rush it, risking to ruin it. Unaware that the other two were secretly cheering for them, they spent the next day, too, making googly eyes at each other; finally, the time came to say goodbye, because Lee had to make an early start for the airport. Hence, after dinner, he lingered only briefly, but when he took his leave, Vivien addressed Richard:  
“I’m tired tonight; let’s go to sleep.”  
A little surprised, the British actor nodded:  
“Of course, sweetheart…”  
All four stood up and headed for the lift; the first to get off was Eva, whose room was on the second floor.  
“Well, time to say goodbye, Lee…”, she began.  
“Let me walk you to your room”, he said. Vivien strived to conceal her satisfaction and said:  
“Have a nice trip, tomorrow, Lee.”  
“Thanks, Vivien”, he smiled and hugged her. Eva stepped in front of the photocell to prevent the doors to shut, while Lee exchanged a quick hug also with Richard, then they got off the lift and headed for her room.  
While they continued to go up, Vivien winked at her fiancé:  
“If Lee didn’t walk Eva to her room, I would’ve kicked him in the pants!”  
Richard grinned:  
“Me, too!”  
She burst into laughter:  
“Poor Lee… he seriously risked to be literally kicked off the lift!”  
Meanwhile, the American actor walked side by side with the beautiful museum curator.  
“How long did you say you’ll stay in London, yet?”, he asked her in a casual tone. Eva’s heartrate accelerated, but she forced herself not to raise her hopes.  
“I’ll come back to New York on the 20th of this month”, she answered, trying desperately to use an equally casual tone.  
“Ah, fine… If you like, when you’ve recovered the jet lag, you could be my guide at the Met, as we talked about the other day…”, the actor dropped his proposal, looking at her questioningly. They were now in front of her door; they stopped and she turned to look at him… and got immediately lost in the emerald depths of his eyes.  
“Ah… yes, of course”, she answered, almost choking because her heart had gone up her throat.  
“Fine!”, Lee cried, “Can I give you my number? So you can call me at your convenience and we organise it… and to thank you for your trouble, if you let me I’ll take you out for dinner.”  
At this point, Eva’s heart threatened to burst out her chest.  
“B-but sure, gladly”, she had just the strength to answer; faking a nonchalance she was far from feeling, she pulled off her mobile phone from her purse, “Give me your number…”  
Lee had perceived the thrill in her voice and felt thrilled in turn. He dictated her his number and she typed it on the keyboard.  
“I give you a ring, so you have mine, too”, she told him, while completing the manoeuvre.  
“Yes, thanks…”  
Lee’s mobile phone chimed at the incoming call, then stopped.  
“Fine, we’re good”, Eva concluded, putting her smartphone back in her purse, “See you in the Big Apple…”  
“Yep, I count on it. Mind you, if you don’t call me, _I’ll_ call _you_ ”, Lee smiled. The young woman couldn’t help but smile back and retorted:  
“What is it, a threat?”  
“No… a promise”, he answered, never stopping smiling. _Lee Pace, blast you and your thousand-watt-smile!_ , Eva thought, feeling her head almost spinning.  
“Very well… See you soon, then”, she said, speaking in an undertone because she feared her voice would gave away too clearly her nervousness, now sky-high, “Have a nice trip, tomorrow.”  
“Thanks, you too”, Lee answered; he mused about the possibility to kiss her: he would like it very much indeed, but he thought it wasn’t a good idea to rush things, he could wait for them to meet again and do it with the tranquillity and dedication she deserved. Hence, he just took her hand, lifted it gallantly to his lips and, looking into her eyes – which were staring at him in charm – kissed lightly its back, “Good night, Eva.”  
How good sounded her name on his lips, she thought confusedly.  
“Good… goodnight to you, Lee”, she managed to answer in an almost normal tone. Calling on every ounce of her willpower, she turned and opened the door, entered her room and finally, with a last faint smile to the American actor, she shut it.  
Lee lingered some more moments, staring at the closed door, and then with a sigh he turned and headed back to the lift. He didn’t repent not having kissed her: the wait would simply make their first kiss more thrilling, if and when it would occur. He surely didn’t want to force himself on her, but he would do anything in his power to make it become true. Therefore, he began immediately to thing about where he could take Eva for dinner; a nice restaurant was required, with an intimate atmosphere and good food…

***

Eva took off her high-heeled shoes, and then headed for the bathroom to remove her makeup. Her feelings were slightly confused: on one side, she had madly craved for Lee to kiss her and therefore, because he instead didn’t, she felt disappointed; but on the other hand, she was glad he had shown respect and discretion, preferring to wait a more appropriate circumstance, when they could give it the adequate attention, without the anxiety of the imminent departure. She wasn’t so inexperienced in men, she didn’t realise he reciprocated her attraction to him, therefore she was enough sure it would happen. She appreciated also the fact he had allowed her to seize the initiative, showing he thought her capable of autonomous decisions; the add he would call her if she didn’t was instead a demonstration of how much he wanted to be called. She glanced at her image in the mirror: was she sure, she wasn’t dreaming? But no, of course not: she had spent three full days plus New Year’s Eve with him, this couldn’t possibly be only a dream. She smiled: she couldn’t wait to go back to New York…

***

“In my opinion, it’s done”, Vivien declared, happy for her girl-friend, while slipping under the comforter at Richard’s side. He didn’t need her to explain what she was referring to.  
“In my opinion, too”, he confirmed, “Now we must just wait to see what happens.”  
Vivien nodded, smiling, and then rubbed herself against his fiancé’s side:  
“In the meantime, what do you think about seeing for the two of us…?”  
Richard lifted the corners of his lips in his characteristic smirk:  
“Very gladly…”

 

THE END


End file.
